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Ever-tighter emissions regulations have even supercar manufacturers hacking cylinders from their engines. McLaren has the V6 hybrid Artura and Ferrari has the 296 GTB. But not Lamborghini, because it just wouldn’t feel right, according to the company’s Chief Technical Officer Rouven Mohr, who confirmed Lamborghini has no plans for a V6 engine. At least, for now.
“A V6 engine just doesn’t fit the brand right now,” Mohr told Auto Motor und Sport, speaking on Lamborghini’s decarbonization plans. Lamborghini has produced V12 models every year since inception and has never mass-produced a car with fewer than eight cylinders. Despite plans to cut fleet emissions in half by 2025 with full-range hybridization, Mohr doesn’t see smaller ICEs being a part of that—he doesn’t feel they fit the spirit of Lamborghini.
That was a poorly defined concept until recent years, according to Mohr, to whom Lamborghini is about more than pure, measurable performance. He believes they have to have distinct driving dynamics, looks, and sound—and to put words in his mouth, an X-factor that only a Lamborghini exudes. If a six-cylinder Lamborghini has no precedent, and electrification answers the carbon question soon enough, Mohr sees hybrid V8s, V10s, and V12s as adequate until its first BEVs are ready late this decade.
That means there’ll be an Urus plug-in hybrid (PHEV) soon, and that the 2025-ish Huracan successor will be a PHEV, too—like the Revuelto and Urus. Mohr revealed it’ll have an aluminum chassis developed in-house with help from Audi, whose R8 has been the V10 Lambo’s fraternal twin since the Gallardo. (No word on whether that’ll remain with the R8’s electric successor.)
As for the Urus, Mohr said it’ll switch wholesale to an EV instead of downsizing to a V6. A separate EV will be introduced too, adding a fourth model on VW’s next-gen SSP platform, though Mohr said its form factor hasn’t yet been decided. It’ll eventually push Lamborghini out of low-volume territory and beyond 10,000 annual sales, but it may cut emissions to keep Lamborghini’s V10s and V12s around just a little bit longer. After that, it may be time to talk V6s, but Lamborghini will cross that bridge when it comes to it.
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